News

Persistence pays off when it comes to stolen bikes!

On 22 February 2020, a cunning bike thief, using bolts cutters, stole the victim's bike which was secured to a parking rack in CBD Melbourne.

Devasted upon finding her much loved Kona Rove had been stolen, the victim went straight to the police to file a report, which was taken by a conscientious police member, who advised that she should also report the theft on the PropertyVAULT - BikeVAULT website.

Following the advice and wanting to do everything she could to get her bike back, she submitted her report to BikeVAULT and then read the detailed proven recovery tips we provide to victims, which includes setting up alerts on www.findabike.com.au our online search engine for bike adverts as well as trawling likely buy and sell websites, Facebook Marketplace, and second-hand dealers, where stolen bikes regularly turn up.

You make your own luck - diligence pays off

Although stolen in late February, the Kona wasn't offered for sale until April 2020. Fortunately, our diligent owner never stopped looking and found the bike was advertised for sale on a Facebook Marketplace. Following our normal recovery recipe, the victim contacted both the Police and the PropertyVAULT team and a not so secret sting operation was implemented resulting in the bike being recovered and two of Victoria Police finest members - Sergeant George Papalas and Constable Owen Tunstall (pictured) from Melbourne East arresting a male and charging him with handling stolen goods.

Great work all round, in particular by the victim for not giving up, proving once again you can make your own luck!

Protect your bike and your ownership

Don't settle for just a bike lock, choose a premium VAULT lock and ID KIT bundle, and not only secure your bike, but secure your bikes ID and your ownership for life.

Help us put the thieves & black market traders out of business

Bike theft is driven by the lucrative black market trade, aided by lacking bike identification, insufficient recording, and the inability for the public prior to BikeVAULT to check if a second-hand bike is stolen when advertised for sale.

Register your bike identification and your ownership in the VAULT for free and help us put the black market traders out of business an end targetted bike theft!

Not just bikes – You can now register all your assets vulnerable to theft in the VAULT, including your pets that commonly go walkabout! Check out our bespoke custom registration and stolen forms designed by asset identification and recovery experts.